TAMPA - The University of South Florida women's basketball team tried to get back on the winning track, however couldn't get over the hump as Louisville handed the Bulls a 66-55 defeat on Saturday afternoon at the Sun Dome.

Andrea Smith led the way for USF (10-17, 1-12 BIG EAST) with 16 points, on 7-of-16 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line, and Jasmine Wynne added 12 points in the loss.

After the Bulls jumped out to a quick early lead Louisville looked to take control of the game, however, were not totally able to put USF away.

The Cardinals would extend their lead to as many as 14 points in the first half, 29-15, when Schimmel connected on one of her four three-point shots with 2:58 left before the intermission.

The Bulls, however, would close out the first stanza on a 6-0 run to cut the Louisville leads to just seven, 30-23, at the break.

USF would come out of the locker room and get to within five points, twice, the ladder coming on a Jasmine Wynne jumper off an Andrell Smith assist just over a minute in. That would be as close as the Bulls would get the rest of the way.

The Cardinals would put the game out of reach for good using a 13-4 run, capped by a Keisha Hines lay-up with 4:28 left in the contest, giving Louisville its biggest lead of the game, 62-47.

The Cardinals would shoot 50 percent (23-46) on the afternoon, while USF hit just 37.9 percent (22-58) of its shots from the floor.

The Bulls turned the ball over 22 times against the Louisville defense which led to 22 Cardinal points.

USF now hits the road for a two-game road trip beginning at Rutgers on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. The Bulls will then travel south on the New Jersey Turnpike to Philadelphia for a Feb. 26 meeting with Villanova at noon (BIG EAST Television).

USF will close out its regular season on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. when it butts heads with No. 18/18 Georgetown.